Wednesday, January 9, 2013

The head of a Turkish aid agency that helped broker the prisoner exchange has
confirmed that 48 Iranian hostages have been freed in exchange for the release
of more than 2,000 civilians.
Bulent Yildirim, head of humanitarian aid agency IHH, told Reuters that the
exchange was underway: "The 48 Iranians have been released and are being taken
to Damascus, accompanied by Iranian and Syrian officials."
CNN's Arwa Damon says it is the biggest prisoner swap since the uprising
began.....

Reaction to prisoner swap

Initial reaction to news of the prisoner swap has focused on how much more
highly the Assad regime appears to value Iranians compared to imprisoned Syrian
activists.

Rafif Jouejati, spokeswoman for the activist group the Local Co-ordination
Committees of Syria, tweeted:

The fence-sitters may be aghast to know their leader considers
lives of thousands of fellow #Syrians to be
worth 48 Iranians #justsaying......

Israel released thousands of Palestinian prisoners for Shalit
.Assad released hundreds of Syrians for few Iranians. How cheap Arabs can
get?....."